Following 17 years’ stewardship of Lotus Cup Europe on behalf of Group Lotus, LoTRDC will evolve the FIA authorised series into a multi-marque competition for 2026. The new European GT Lite Challenge (EGTLC) series will open up entries to even more drivers of lightweight sportscars, including products from Alpine and Ginetta as it looks to consolidate its position as a race series for aspiring sports and GT competitors.

Lotus will continue to be the predominant marque next season with more than 20 entries already committed. This number means that EGTLC will remain the largest championship in the world for Lotus competitors, a tradition that LoTRDC has maintained since it took over promotion of Lotus Cup Europe in 2009. Since then, the Motorsport UK-affiliated club has welcomed over 200 drivers from 16 nationalities and promoted over 200 races at 16 different venues, supporting major championships including DTM and the European Truck Racing Championship.

EGTLC will retain its highly prestigious FIA International Series status - continuing a 13-year affiliation - with current FIA safety and license requirements kept in place. Race formats will remain similar with sprint races comprising the majority of the six race weekends, plus the continued inclusion of selected mini-endurance pit stop races adding variety.

2026 Series Information

The championship is open to a wide range of Lotus cars from the Elise through to the current Emira GT4, with entries being split into four groups: GT Cup, Exige Cup, Open and Production. In addition, Alpine and Ginetta’s will also be invited to the grid, initially running in the GT Cup group.

Championship points are scored according to group position. This means that drivers from all groups have a chance of competing for the overall title. Current champion Robbe Janssens won from the Production ranks in 2025 whilst Tamás Vizin won the 2024 championship from Exige Cup.

The series is truly International with the five current champions all representing different countries: Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Hungary & United Kingdom.

In 2026, 12 races will be held across 6 events. Race weekends feature free practice followed by qualifying. All rounds will feature two races incorporating rolling and standing starts. At Spa-Francorchamps there will be a 50-minute pit stop race. Tires will continue to be semi-slicks helping to keep costs down and reliability higher, in fact no fewer than six different drivers finished all 12 races in 2025.

The championship is open to drivers at all levels of experience, provided that they hold an International D licence or higher. Whilst the series has grown hugely since its inception over a decade ago, the emphasis has firmly remained as a fun and social environment in which to compete.